Another interesting week at Beau's...
I'm co-chairs of Ontario Craft Beer Week with Jason Ellsmere from Cameron's brewing and every Wednesday we meet (alternative weeks are face to face and teleconference) with our committee to review progress and set goals for achievement for the following week. Every 4th Wednesday is an Ontario Craft Brewers (OCB)executive committee meeting and this was both.
That means I spent a good 4 hours on the phone, updating the exec committee on OCB Week progress and then immediately getting onto the Craft Beer Week teleconference. My ears felt like they had been steamrolled by the end of the day.
Progress on Ontario Craft Beer Week has been phenomenal. All the OCB breweries are getting really involved and we're hoping to have an insane amount of programming, ranging from the very intimate events at tiny restaurants to much larger festival events.
From Vankleek Hill, to Barrie, to Huntsville to Ottawa and Toronto, there will be events going on all week. Its been a huge undertaking, but because we've got a great team, we're having fun and getting things done.
We had our first-ever quarterly sales meeting this week, too. In the last three months we've grown from a two-person sales team to a six-person team and our sales reps spend almost all their time on the road, so this was a great way to get all on the same page, go over all sorts of stuff there never seems time to go over and generally have some fun as a team.
On Thursday night we visited a few spots in Micheala's territory, including the Marlborough Pub, The Swan on the Rideau and The Red Dot. Then Friday was a full day session including hard core sales stuff, beer and cheese pairings, draught systems training and more.
Saturday was quite the day. We hosted a delegation from the European Union's organic certification body, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Pro-Cert, our certifier. It was explained to me that the two organizations are trying to develop an equivelency for the two certifications, and we were chosen as one of the certified processing companies to perform a mock-audit on. So the European delegates spent several hours going through our record-keeping and testing our knowledge of the certification processes and regulations.
It was pretty stressful, but also pretty great - we're coming up to our annual recertification audit and a trial run was a good opportunity to get a free test on how we're doing. Not to mention, in our small way being part of a rather historic undertaking.
Showing posts with label OCB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OCB. Show all posts
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010
New Award!
I just received an email letting me know that Beau's won at the Ontario Legislature tasting event. This was our first year being part of the event, because the winners have to be able to supply the leg with beer for the year and we weren't in Toronto before.
Here is the release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ONTARIO MPPS CELEBRATE ONTARIO CRAFT BREWERS
Seven new Ontario craft beers to be highlighted at Ontario’s Legislative Assembly
TORONTO, ON – (May 6, 2010) – Ontario MPPs cast their votes for the most popular representatives of Ontario’s Craft Brewing industry during an annual tasting and selection event hosted by Hon. Steve Peters, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen’s Park last evening.
MPPs and Queen’s Park staffers tasted a selection of 48 craft beers from 15 of Ontario ’s popular craft breweries and cast their votes in favour of the craft beers to be highlighted at the Legislative Assembly for 2010-2011. The event included a delicious menu to accompany the beer featuring Ontario ingredients and a beer and cheese pairing table.
The new beers, to be highlighted in the Legislative Dining Room and at other Queen’s Park venues, are brewed in local communities throughout the province, including: Barrie, Burlington, Cambridge, Etobicoke, Guelph, Port Credit, Muskoka, Neustadt, Oakville, Prince Edward County, St. Thomas, Toronto and Van Kleek Hill.
“An initiative of mine as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is to ensure that our Legislature is a showcase of everything Ontario – from the gifts in our gift shop, to the food, beer, wine, and fruit wine we serve at events and in our dining room” Speaker Peters said. “Events such as this one are a great way for the Members to learn more about the world-class beer made and produced right here in Ontario .”
This is the third year the Speaker has hosted the exclusive tasting event, part of his ongoing initiative to showcase Ontario products in the Legislature. The tasting event consisted of 48 beers from 15 Ontario Craft Breweries. Tasters cast ballots to choose their favourite varieties in six categories, a seventh category the “Speaker’s Selection” was t chosen by the Speaker himself. (See below for full results).
“Demand for Ontario Craft Beer has exploded in the past few years, even despite the economic slowdown,” says Gary McMullen, Chair of Ontario Craft Brewers and President of Muskoka Cottage Brewery. “Ontario Craft Brewers have been working hard to build this industry and create jobs in Ontario and we are very grateful to the Province of Ontario for its ongoing support.”
The winning Ontario Craft Beer brands were selected in the following categories:
Golden Lagers & Pilsners
Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company: Beau’s Lug Tread Lagered Ale
Refreshing Ales
Cameron’s Brewing Company: Cameron’s Cream Ale
Amber Lagers, Ales & Honey Beers
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery: Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale
Malty Dark Lager or Ale
Muskoka Cottage Brewery: Muskoka Dark Ale
Bold Flavoured Ale, Stout or Porter
Grand River Brewery:Plowman’s Ale
Wheat Beer & Specialty
Mill Street Brewery: Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer
Speaker’s Selection
Railway City Brewing: Railway City Dead Elephant Ale*
*To honour the 125th anniversary of the fate of Jumbo, Speaker Peters has chosen Dead Elephant Ale from Railway City Brewing – a perfect combination of the Speaker’s two great interests – Ontario Product and Jumbo the elephant.
About the Ontario Craft Brewers
The Ontario Craft Brewers is an association of more than 25 small brewers dedicated to making great tasting, high quality beer in Ontario. The 25 members of the Ontario Craft Brewers brew their beers locally using fresh, all natural ingredients in communities throughout Ontario – from the Ottawa Valley to Waterloo and Niagara to Muskoka. Handcrafting over 150 premium beers, Ontario Craft Brewers employ about 600 people in Ontario , accounting for over 20 per cent of the overall brewing employment in the province. Ontario ’s Craft brewers’ share has more than doubled since 2002, going from slightly less than two per cent to approximately five per cent of the beer volume sold in Ontario and continues to be the fastest growing segment within the LCBO’s beer category. For more information about the Ontario Craft Brewers visit www.ontariocraftbrewers.com.
Here is the release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ONTARIO MPPS CELEBRATE ONTARIO CRAFT BREWERS
Seven new Ontario craft beers to be highlighted at Ontario’s Legislative Assembly
TORONTO, ON – (May 6, 2010) – Ontario MPPs cast their votes for the most popular representatives of Ontario’s Craft Brewing industry during an annual tasting and selection event hosted by Hon. Steve Peters, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen’s Park last evening.
MPPs and Queen’s Park staffers tasted a selection of 48 craft beers from 15 of Ontario ’s popular craft breweries and cast their votes in favour of the craft beers to be highlighted at the Legislative Assembly for 2010-2011. The event included a delicious menu to accompany the beer featuring Ontario ingredients and a beer and cheese pairing table.
The new beers, to be highlighted in the Legislative Dining Room and at other Queen’s Park venues, are brewed in local communities throughout the province, including: Barrie, Burlington, Cambridge, Etobicoke, Guelph, Port Credit, Muskoka, Neustadt, Oakville, Prince Edward County, St. Thomas, Toronto and Van Kleek Hill.
“An initiative of mine as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is to ensure that our Legislature is a showcase of everything Ontario – from the gifts in our gift shop, to the food, beer, wine, and fruit wine we serve at events and in our dining room” Speaker Peters said. “Events such as this one are a great way for the Members to learn more about the world-class beer made and produced right here in Ontario .”
This is the third year the Speaker has hosted the exclusive tasting event, part of his ongoing initiative to showcase Ontario products in the Legislature. The tasting event consisted of 48 beers from 15 Ontario Craft Breweries. Tasters cast ballots to choose their favourite varieties in six categories, a seventh category the “Speaker’s Selection” was t chosen by the Speaker himself. (See below for full results).
“Demand for Ontario Craft Beer has exploded in the past few years, even despite the economic slowdown,” says Gary McMullen, Chair of Ontario Craft Brewers and President of Muskoka Cottage Brewery. “Ontario Craft Brewers have been working hard to build this industry and create jobs in Ontario and we are very grateful to the Province of Ontario for its ongoing support.”
The winning Ontario Craft Beer brands were selected in the following categories:
Golden Lagers & Pilsners
Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company: Beau’s Lug Tread Lagered Ale
Refreshing Ales
Cameron’s Brewing Company: Cameron’s Cream Ale
Amber Lagers, Ales & Honey Beers
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery: Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale
Malty Dark Lager or Ale
Muskoka Cottage Brewery: Muskoka Dark Ale
Bold Flavoured Ale, Stout or Porter
Grand River Brewery:Plowman’s Ale
Wheat Beer & Specialty
Mill Street Brewery: Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer
Speaker’s Selection
Railway City Brewing: Railway City Dead Elephant Ale*
*To honour the 125th anniversary of the fate of Jumbo, Speaker Peters has chosen Dead Elephant Ale from Railway City Brewing – a perfect combination of the Speaker’s two great interests – Ontario Product and Jumbo the elephant.
About the Ontario Craft Brewers
The Ontario Craft Brewers is an association of more than 25 small brewers dedicated to making great tasting, high quality beer in Ontario. The 25 members of the Ontario Craft Brewers brew their beers locally using fresh, all natural ingredients in communities throughout Ontario – from the Ottawa Valley to Waterloo and Niagara to Muskoka. Handcrafting over 150 premium beers, Ontario Craft Brewers employ about 600 people in Ontario , accounting for over 20 per cent of the overall brewing employment in the province. Ontario ’s Craft brewers’ share has more than doubled since 2002, going from slightly less than two per cent to approximately five per cent of the beer volume sold in Ontario and continues to be the fastest growing segment within the LCBO’s beer category. For more information about the Ontario Craft Brewers visit www.ontariocraftbrewers.com.
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